COMMENT MODERATION:
You have probably noticed an increase in spam-bot and troll traffic cluttering our e-mail boxes. Shall we switch on comment moderation? Please note: Comment moderation will give us a chance to screen all incoming comments BUT will not keep annoying comments from filling up your e-mail box. Furthermore, it adds an extra administrative burden: Some or all of us will need to approve comments, and a degree of spontaneity is lost. What say you all? Shall we live with annoyances or switch on comment moderation?
SCHEDULING:
Blogger features a scheduling screen. I have no idea how it works; but my thought is this: Anarchy is a Swash Zone utopia: No rules, no regulations, no guidelines; no telling people what to do; it is a relationship based on harmony, peace, and mutual trust. There are times, however, when a writer may have worked harder than normal on a post, or believes a certain topic is important enough to merit more exposure, and may want her/his post to remain at the top of the stack longer than anarchy permits. That is where the scheduling feature comes in handy. Not having used it, however, I have no idea if this will accommodate our state of anarchy with scheduling. What say you all? Worth a look or fahgettaboutit!
BEYOND BLOGGER:
As some or all of you know, The Swash Zone may have sprung from humble beginnings but has grown into a popular weblog with a large daily following. Is it time to take ourselves more seriously? Shall we be more academic? Are we more than merely foot soldiers in the culture wars? Shall we continue our freewheeling ways or infuse ourselves with a sense of mission and purpose. There are also technical considerations: Shall we move to WordPress or TypePad, or stay with what we have?
NAME UPDATE:
One more question: Is The Swash Zone a good name for us, or does it cause confusion because most folks don’t know the technical term for the place where waves break upon a beach. Please note: We can change the name of the our weblog WITHOUT changing our URL address. This means all folks who link to us will not have to update their links list. A name change is the simplest change of all. What say you all. Shall we try another name, and if so, suggestions please?
Dear Swash Zoners: Congratulations! It’s so great to hear (read) that your blog has risen with the tides! I hope your newest adventure turns out “swell” and that you will keep us non-zoners posted as we’d like to live vicariously thru y’all!
ReplyDeleteBeing the technodope I am, I have no idea about Wordpress or Typepad. Unless someone is willing to give me lessons, don't change anything!
ReplyDeleteI think we should leave off the comment moderation since we all have the ability to delete offensive comments, I think we have it covered.
Scheduling might be useful and is probably worth a little exploration.
I think our appeal is how our diversity as bloggers reveals itself in the diversity of our posts. Personally I would miss the occasional bit of fluff or comedy that helps lighten the mood from time to time. The jump from politics to women's rights to racism to local events, etc defines our ability to address multiple complex issues. We don't live in a vaccuum and neither should we blog in one.
Finally, The Swash Zone by any other name... would not be The Swash Zone. It is so us. As a compromise how about putting a brief definition in parentheses between the blog title and the blog description?
That's my weigh in and I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's thoughts. I will also bend to majority rule.
I think that it is time to 'reach out' and form a confederation of some sort or another: To formalize the informal.
ReplyDeleteWe need to form a network of bloggers and develop a social media network based upon the concept of thinking for ourselves and being open to explore ideas with free debate.
We could develop a ning.com network and call it The SwashZone Network with open membership to everyone who agrees to THINK for themsleves and seek out differing opinion.
Show me the Swash Zone in the header and put Octopus innit.
ReplyDeleteIf you put her filling an ink bottle, I'll freaking kiss you.
On more serious notes:
ReplyDelete1) I just moved to a self-hosted WordPress blog, and it's bloody amazing. My own site got so popular that Blogger cut back on my bandwidth -- I wasn't using Google Ads. Now I have full control over the site and it's way more functional.
2) Scheduling: the site will actually work better if we're not blogging on top of each other.
3) Comment moderation is a primary reason I moved to self-hosted WP. My comments are now being handled by Disqus, which allows readers to log in through social networks. Blogger simply won't play nicely with Disqus.
4) You might need to re-send the invite; my inbox is unmanageable and I'm no longer logging into Blogger as much.
1. Keep the name.
ReplyDelete2. I am interested in the concept of comment filtering, but do not know enough about related options. Any links where I can research this?
3. I believe scheduling is important, as important posts can sink to the bottom at times.
4. I believe we need a sense of mission and purpose. That doesn't necessarily mean that every post should be scholarly - sometimes that is the antithesis of achieving a purpose. We need to discuss this with more than a quick thought.
First, thanks to Pamela for the kind comment.
ReplyDeleteOcto,
I think Matt is right on with the comment about WordPress and Disqus -- just looked at the latter, which is a plug-in feature, and it sounds great. So I think we might want to look into transitioning to WordPress with this and perhaps additional features.
On scheduling, yes, it makes sense, though we've been getting by without it.
As for site content as we grow, I'm wondering if we ought to divide the blog's content into three sections: politics, social issues, and the arts, or some grouping along those lines. We all address "la politique" and we should, but we also have various areas of expertise.
With a larger readership comes a responsibility to comment regularly as a community, i.e. not to allow major events and issues to go without some serious reflection by one or more of us. Part of what we are doing here is modeling an intelligent and even learned but also engaging conversation about things that matter.
On Dino's last paragraph: This is where the Scratch Pad could come in handy. If a Zoner is working on a current event or issue, they could leave a note to the effect; this is my subject, this is an outline and this is my perspective.
ReplyDeleteIf the issue were, say, a social one and another blogger also had some passion for the topic, they could develop a post from differing viewpoints and combine posts or post in tandem.
Since we are getting larger in terms of contributers and readership, I can see the rationale for creating a more organizational of posting by subject.
Thank you, everyone, for the feedback. A few quick thoughts on the Scratch Pad. Further reflection always brings forth more ideas ... making this an evolving concept: Group communications, a place to peer review before going public, a private primordial scream room (yeah, that too), a place to just doodle, a repository of bits and pieces for later synthesis, and anything else you can think of.
ReplyDeleteAbout permissions, the Pad is set up for contributors only. This can be changed to include selected guests for added flexibility. It also means any contributor can extend an invitation to persons of their choosing (unless you really want this to be totally private). Everyone has full administrative access, so please hang any pictures, or link to anything, you want.
Later today, I'll fill up the "notification" templates so you can monitor happenings inside our private pad.
It will take me a few days to move in furniture and wall hangings so, if you don't mind wooden crates and brown bagging, please feel free to move in.
I notice a consensus forming on some issues but not others, so lets wait until we hear from everyone.
A newcomer here, I like it as it is. I run another blog for a non-profit with which I am involved, but because it's a 501(c)(3), I keep my involvement and my political blogging separate. It is on Wordpress from our own domain. If you do move to Wordpress, do so on their domain, because the installation and upgrade issues are daunting.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to be so late commenting on this post, Octo. As a relative newbie, I've wanted to give it some proper thought, but realized, once again, that lacking any planning and organizational skills, I cannot meaningfully contribute to the topic.
ReplyDeleteEssentially, I agree with everything Rocky said in her first comment.
Scheduling sounds somewhat appealing, as sometimes we post on top of each other, but, as Dino noticed, we've managed without it so far. So, I'm not sure about it.
I would also not like to see the Zone turn into a purely academic and/or political blog -- I think there is room here for a variety of topics, and it makes it more interesting, IMO. (Or maybe I'm just so sick of politics lately -- very possible.)
Last but not least: I second Dino's thanks to Pam!
P.S. Disqus and other options look daunting to me, but I can learn, if necessary. I hope.